Crystalbrook Kingsley

“Small problems, good bar”

We booked an Urban King room and were allocated level 5. We didn’t get off to a great start. The instructions we were given was for valet parking park in the 5 min valet zone out the front. I expected to find a valet zone sign. There is none. Checkin was polite but far from welcoming or friendly.… lisää

We booked an Urban King room and were allocated level 5. We didn’t get off to a great start. The instructions we were given was for valet parking park in the 5 min valet zone out the front. I expected to find a valet zone sign. There is none. Checkin was polite but far from welcoming or friendly. We were referred to the in-room tablet for hotel information. This is a disaster. It’s slow and clunky and sometimes freezes. Eg. To see the breakfast menu you have to click on the roundhouse restaurant (how do you know that’s where breakfast is?) then click on lunch and dinner then click on breakfast. The same tablet has menus for the bar and restaurant and says the bar opens at 5. It really opens at 5:30 so we spent some fun times in the lifts with several other couples trying to get to the bar without success. The restaurant has a set 3 course menu (according to the tablet) and we couldn’t see any pre-theatre dining option. Over the phone they had taken my dinner reservation for 5:30 but it wasn’t in the system when I checked in and the restaurant doesn’t open until 6 anyway. The room is modern and nice. Aircon and wifi worked well. There was some road noise, corridor noise and city hum so I’m glad I brought earplugs. It’s right next door to the Civic Theatre which is handy for shows (but a pre-theatre menu would make it even handier). We slept well. We had dinner upstairs at the bar because we didn’t want the full $98 (plus sides) extravaganza and hope we got out before the theatre. The bar menu is similar to the restaurant entree menu with a few additions. The cheese platter was above average, the bao buns fabulous, I wouldn’t choose the empanadas again but that’s just us - there were other excellent items on the menu, the wine list was quite impressive with plenty of Hunter options, the view beautiful and the service was great. We had, by now, just about written off the hotel for future stays but the bar experience may have just repaired our view somewhat. As we walked back from the theatre we saw the level 9 bar and restaurant lights turn off - so no hope of a nightcap or post theatre snack. Valet parking is $50 overnight and worked well. The receptionist staff have to stop checking in/out guests to park/fetch the cars. Breakfast was very good. There’s a selection from the cold buffet and hot items are chosen from an a la carte menu. Not a great selection of fruit but otherwise very nicely done. Eggs Benedict were excellent and generous. Coffee machine made good coffee. The hotel has the bones of a really great stay, all the little annoyances could easily be fixed.

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“Nice but lacks facilities”

The hotel is centrally located in an old council admin building known as the Roundhouse. There are huge windows everywhere which is lovely in the rooms, and even better in the top level bar and restaurant. The architecture is impressive but the circular structure is very limiting. The bedrooms are… lisää

The hotel is centrally located in an old council admin building known as the Roundhouse. There are huge windows everywhere which is lovely in the rooms, and even better in the top level bar and restaurant. The architecture is impressive but the circular structure is very limiting. The bedrooms are small (with a lack of places to store clothes). The toilet is separate to the bathroom ✔️ but the only mirrors are in the bathroom ☹️ We were surprised that the hotel could be marketed as five-star when there are no extra facilities such as a pool, gym or multiple restaurant choices. We found the staff to be adequate but not over helpful. One evening the 4 of us went to the bar and, despite many empty tables without reserved signs, we were directed towards a high-chair table on the basis that it was ‘the only one available’. So best to book your bar visit I guess. Rombergs bar, did not book and got last table Sat night downstairs bar shut 9pm

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